Ugg boot’s on the other foot

It is a struggle that tugs at the sense of national pride felt by many Australians, the little Aussie battler versus the corporate giant (a US giant at that) – it’s the fight over a great Aussie icon, the ugg boot.

The dispute between US giant Deckers Outdoor Corporation – which has bought several ugg-related trademarks in Australia and aggressively defended its right to use it by threatening others using the name – and Australian producers will have its first hearing next week.

Local, family owned business Uggs-N-Rugs, which has been making the sheepskin boots in Western Australia for 28 years, is challenging Deckers’ claim to the trademark and is the first Australian business to obtain a hearing at the Trademark Registry regarding the ugg name.

After several years of legal exchanges, Uggs-N-Rugs owners Bruce and Bronwyn McDougall will argue that Deckers hasn’t sufficiently used the trademark in Australia by not selling or marketing the product, and that the word ugg is generic.

If the McDougalls are successful in their claims, Deckers’ right to the trademarks may be lifted, enabling Australian producers to continue selling their products without the threat of challenges, legal letters and raids.

Mr McDougall told WA Business News he was hoping for a favourable outcome next week and had spent at least the past 12 months intensively researching evidence to present at the hearing.

“The word ugg was used throughout the surfing and manufacturing industries before it was registered, which means it should not have been registered in the first place,” Mr McDougall said. “Deckers also haven’t been able to show genuine commercial use of the trademark in Australia, so we are hopeful of a good outcome next week.”

The case will be closely followed by almost 100 other sheepskin boot producers around the country, and evokes strong anti-corporate colonial sentiment among ordinary punters.

Deckers bought the small Australian firm Ugg Holdings in 1995, and in 1999 registered it as a trademark.

Since then the ugg boot has achieved cult status, thanks in part to the penchant of Hollywood celebrities for the footwear.

Last year, Deckers’ revenue for its product range increased 215 per cent to $116.2 million, making it the seventh consecutive year of double-digit growth.